In a time when travel was by horseback and sailing ship, Masonry
spread with
amazing speed. By 1731, when Benjamin Franklin joined the fraternity, there
were already several lodges in colonies, and Masonry spread rapidly as
America
expanded west. In addition to Franklin, many of the Founding Fathers -
men such
as George Washington, Paul Revere, Joseph Warren and John Hancock - were
Masons. Masons and Masonry played an important part in the Revolutionary
war and an even more important part in the Constitutional Convention and
the
debates surrounding the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Many of those
were
held in Masonic lodges.